Kapa‘a resident Ida Leasiolagi bakes thick brownies with a center that melts like pudding. She spends her days in the kitchen at her newly opened restaurant, Helena’s Bake Shop, crafting sweet pastries and plate lunches, sandwiches and soups. “Baking is
Kapa‘a resident Ida Leasiolagi bakes thick brownies with a center that melts like pudding. She spends her days in the kitchen at her newly opened restaurant, Helena’s Bake Shop, crafting sweet pastries and plate lunches, sandwiches and soups.
“Baking is my passion,” she said, standing among glass jars of scones, biscotti and cookies.
She named the shop after her youngest daughter, who she said inherited her love of baking.
Next door at Kusina Variety Store, Erwin and Connie Agcaoili have every product label neatly aligned. The cans of condensed milk stand in a pyramid formation, and Filipino food warms by the front counter.
Both businesses recently opened at Wailua Shopping Plaza, arriving with a wave of small shops that includes Acrylic Nails and Lucy’s Alterations.
The two business — operating under one roof — offer a combination of services including manicures, pedicures and tailoring.
In the front of the shop Tina Tran displays rows of colored fingernails, while Lucy Ntuyen wields a steam iron and a sewing machine in the back. Lam Hoang moves between the operations, managing the store.
Lihu‘e residents Tran, Ntuyen and Hoang opened the business together last year.
“We’re all neighbors,” Hoang said.
